U.S. opposition may result in a delay on the current proposal to replace the U.N. Human Rights Commission with a new Human Rights Council, Reuters reports. Although, as I pointed out, the U.S. only has five votes in the General Assembly, it does have other levers of influence. Britain, for instance, is supporting a delay and members of Congress...
Here are the preliminary results of my survey of the new and lateral faculty hires in international law. Please contact me if you have more information or clarifications regarding this list. Auckland Kevin Jon Heller (International Criminal Law) from Georgia Boston University Robert Sloane (International Law) new hire Cincinnati Jacob Katz Cogan (International Law) new hire Fordham Grainne De Burca (EU Law) from European University in Florence Florida State Lesley...
It may not be the most important international dispute of our time, but a storm is brewing over which country — China or Scotland — invented golf. From the International Herald-Tribune: Did the Chinese invent golf and export it westward centuries before any Scottish shepherd ever thought of making a game out of his forlorn fate? Say something quickly in a...
According to a China Daily report, all death-penalty appeals in China will be held publicly as of July 1, 2006. The move, initiated by the Supreme People's Court, is designed to decrease the number of wrongful convictions by making the appeals process more transparent. Under Chinese law, city-level intermediate courts initially hear cases that could lead to the death penalty....
Today in San Francisco there is a meeting of business leaders to discuss corporate social responsibility. It is part of the U.N. Global Compact, the largest volunteer initiative to promote ten universal principles relating to human rights, labor standards, environment, and anti-corruption. Part of that discussion will address the recently published McKinsey survey of business executives on business and society....
With all the recent talk of electronic surveillance, the NSA, and FISA, I want to point out a sidebar to the history of surveillance and cryptography. Three encoded Nazi messages—products of the famed Enigma encryption system—that had gone unbroken since WWII are being deciphered by a group of amateurs using networked computers via the Internet. The first message...
As we relaunch Opinio Juris at our new site, we are all extremely pleased to welcome our newest permanent blog contributor, Professor Kevin Heller. Since we began our blog just over a year ago, Kevin has been a valuable commentator, informal adviser, and friend to Opino Juris. As our readers have noted, he has been a terrific guest writer...
The U.S. and India have reached a landmark nuclear cooperation agreement by which the U.S. will give India access to civilian nuclear technology and India appears to give international inspectors access to its civilian nuclear facilities. The deal is the centerpiece of President Bush's current visit to India and, indeed, is an important symbol of future U.S. cooperation with...
Hat-tip: Think Progress. ...
We are now located at the new and improved Opinio Juris site: www.opiniojuris.org.We'll see you there...
Pope Benedict XVI issued his Ash Wednesday sermon today and focused on development and world poverty. Here is an excerpt: "Even in this era of global interdependence, it is clear that no economic, social, or political project can replace that gift of self to another through which charity is expressed. Those who act according to the logic of the Gospel...
In the wake of the murder of al-Arabiya correspondent Atwar Bahjat and two of her colleagues, a journalist asked President Jalal Talabani to permit journalists working in Iraq to carry weapons in self-defense. "Send me an official request and I will approve it and inform concerned agencies to give you the right to carry arms," President Talabani replied.The exchange...
